Pakistan commando's pushing logistic strategy against Taliban

Washington Post:

Army commandos launched aggressive new search-and-destroy operations in the Swat Valley and several surrounding districts in the Taliban-plagued northwest Tuesday, military officials said.

On the fifth day of a major military offensive, army officials said they were making a concerted effort to wipe out the hideouts and supply bases of Islamist guerrilla forces, mostly located in unpopulated hilly areas, but had not begun a "hard-core urban fight" to dislodge the fighters from major towns in the region.

Officials also said Tuesday that the number of people fleeing the conflict zone has topped 1 million and that more than 360,000 people have registered at 17 camps for newly displaced civilians in the past week.

"God willing, the operation will be completed very soon," Interior Minister Rehman Malik said. Military officials said Taliban recruits were running away and described the offensive as proceeding "smoothly." Government forces are using attack helicopters, warplanes and more than 15,000 ground troops to drive out or kill the militants.

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"The militants are on the run, and the criminal elements that had joined with them are deserting the Taliban," Abbas said. He said government troops had avoided operating in heavily populated areas but would begin clearing them once civilians had left. The army has briefly lifted its curfew in the war zone nearly every day to allow more people to flee.

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Doctors who have fled the region said that the main hospitals in Swat are closed and that the wounded cannot be treated. Refugees and residents reached by phone said Taliban troops are still patrolling the streets of Mingora, the main town in Swat, with no sign of official or army presence.

Meanwhile, army officials said the number of refugees streaming out of Swat and the neighboring areas of Buner and Lower Dir in the past month has swelled to more than 1.3 million. The Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said more than 500,000 displaced people from the Swat region have registered with the agency since the beginning of May.

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I take it as a bad sign that government spokesman are saying the operation maybe over soon. There is no way that can happen if the government is to achieve its state objectives of destroying the Taliban in this area. It will take weeks if not months to clear out Taliban logistic bases and leaders. As the story reports, the government has still not cleared the Taliban from the major city of Swat. They have much left to do.